Midnight Solstice

Chapter 7

Photo: Jane
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   I'd have to say out of all the times that Aro has thrown missions at us, this one has got to be the worst. After getting Felix, Demetri, and Jane, Aro began going over the mission details with us. Poor Katerina was so confused.
   This mission was one that we had a hard time with in the past , since Aro couldn't read anyone's mind that had any connection to Michael Morgynstein and Demetri couldn't track them either. This was due to the fact that Michael had someone put mental blocks on practically everyone having anything to do with him. We had to trace down leads the old fashion way. All of our leads got us no where and since Aro couldn't find any evidence to prove Michael guilty, we had to drop the case.
Also, we have no official laws against experimentation on the other supernatural species so we had to try to convict him of breaking our law about being conspicuous. That was harder than we thought but we still had to try. Marcus proposed that we make experimentation laws but both Caius and Aro vetoed it since the case "had nothing to do with vampires" even though there was more to this case about vampires than what they could see.
"So let me get this straight, you want us to follow the same leads as we did before and try to catch old man Morgynstein so we can convict him of a crime that we don't even have laws against?" Felix asked, completely overwhelmed by everything we just heard.
"Is there a problem with that?!" Caius hissed.
"Yes, of course there is a problem! Last time we tried to catch him, Felix and I almost died and brought poor Heidi with us. And then Alec got a chunk of skin torn off by one of Morgynstein's horrid monsters he created!" Demetri shouted angrily.
"Hey, it healed." I said. "It's an awful scar, but it still healed."
"I thought you said vampires can't get scars?" Katerina asked Felix.
"Well whatever the hell attacked us can leave a scar." Felix told her with a small smile. "I just didn't want to scare you away."
"Focus people! We don't have time for puerile banter about this!" Caius screeched.
"When do you want us to start?" Jane asked Aro.
"Immediately." Felix slapped his forehead and started to pace, flinging his arms around as he spoke.
"So it's just us?" He questioned. Aro nodded. "There is no way in hell we can do this alone again!" Aro sighed.
"Felix we don't have another choice, we have to keep this under the radar or..." Katerina's hand shot up. "Yes Katerina?"
"Felix has a point, with the things my father can do, there is no way all four of them will come back alive. I mean with the modern technology he uses that none of you could even begin to comprehend, I highly doubt that their lack of knowledge of the modern world will help them with this case. I believe this was your problem before." We all stared at her dumbfounded. She has never said more than a few words at a time, except for today.
"What do you propose we do?"
"I know I told you that I didn't want many people to know, but I think that we need all of us newborns to help. Our gifts are far more powerful than a couple of vampires with no clue what they are doing." She turned back at us. "No offense."
"None taken, we know we're not good with this technology, Alec can barely use his cellular device." Demetri told her winking at me. I rolled my eyes.
"Okay the fact that you call it a cellular device proves you know nothing." Felix said, elbowing him in the ribs.
"You want to go big guy?"
"Hell yeah, little leprechaun."
"ENOUGH." Caius roared. "We need to take this seriously, otherwise things will take a turn for the worst." He turned to Katerina. "What makes you believe that all of you will be able to control your gifts enough to complete a mission? After all, you can barely control yours." She took a deep breath and gave Caius a skeptical glance.
"First off, about half of us can control our gifts well, the other half are working on it, but we also have harder gifts to control. Secondly, which would you rather do, throw people who are blind to everything that is significant to this case into a mission they won't fully understand; or add people who know how to shut down his technology systems and who have more powerful gifts, to your numbers. The choice is yours, but with all due respect, I think you need all of us more than we need any of you."
I had to fight to not applaud Katerina. No one has ever had the courage to tell off Caius before in all of my years of being here and this girl has only been here a little over a week! Caius was definitely angered by her though. Felix had to bite his lip to keep himself from cheering her on. She must have just spoke what he's been thinking this whole time. Caius stood up out of his seat. Marcus placed his hand in front of him.
"She is absolutely right. We do need them more than they need us. I've seen them training each other in the halls. I know Caleb and Andi have been kind enough to help Katerina with her gift as well as George. I believe that they have a bond that we wanted all of the guard members to have with each other. I also think that we should let Katerina and Alec take the lead on this mission as well. Katerina knows the most about her father's...work and Alec is the best at keeping her under control." He said what now? Jane's eyebrows began twitching as her upper lip curled into a snarl. Don't do it Jane...
"She's only been here for a week! How do you expect her to carry out a mission successfully?!" Jane shouted.
"Alec will be with her at all times, and he also gets a say in the decisions Jane. You'll have your part in this as well." Aro assured her. She was about to protest again when Marcus spoke.
"I would also like Katerina to attend extra sessions with myself to learn more about our laws." He looked at Katerina. "If that's alright with you." She gave him a small smile.
"I'm cool with that." She told him. Why would he need her to learn about our laws....that's what I taught all of the newborns the first week... Oh well, its none of my business anyway. "You said we had to chase down leads? Whose first?"
"Not so fast Katerina." Aro said. "Though I admire your enthusiasm, I believe that we have to inform the others of our plan." She sat back in her chair, obviously disappointed. He sighed and walked in front of her. He crouched down to her level and began talking to her as if she were a young child.
"Katerina, I know you don't remember much about coming here when you were younger because your mother used her gift on you to make you forget, but do you remember the first time you came here? You were about thirteen at the time. Your mother marched right in the throne room and started ranting about what happened to you. I still don't know how she got past all the guards..."
"Lorne held them off." She told him.
"Single handedly?" She shook her head.
"I helped I think. He told me to pretend I was injured and that we needed assistance." He looked back at Marcus and Caius, a confused look that screamed "you've got to be kidding me" was plastered on his face. He turned back to Katerina.
"Anyway, I remember seeing you walk in with Lorne and you looked as though you were leading him around here rather than him taking charge of you. You even were able to calm your mother down enough so that she wouldn't try to attack the rest of us. You have a great influence on people Katerina, and I know you will do fine on this mission, even though it is personal and early in your training. I wouldn't put you on this case if I didn't think you could handle it." He sighed and walked back to the chair at his desk. "Fern would have been very proud of you."
     Katerina bit her lip when he said her mother's name. The tears came back again. Jane scoffed and I grabbed her hand to try to calm her down. After a couple of minutes of giving me the death glare, she relaxed, still grimacing at Katerina who was oblivious to it all.
"I would like all of you to go gather the newborns and inform them of what is going on. Afterwards, Alec and Katerina, you will report back here. You are dismissed."
    "Yes master." We all said in unison, except for Katerina who looked completely confused. We made our way out of Aro's study and down the hall. As soon as we were out of ear shot, Felix and Demetri started laughing.
    "I cannot believe you said that to Caius!" Felix exclaimed. He patted Katerina on the back.
     "I can't believe she said that to him and didn't get killed doing so." Demetri added.
    "Next time she does that, she won't be so lucky." Jane sneered.
    "If he doesn't want an answer, he shouldn't ask in the first place." I told her. "I'm glad Katerina shared her opinion, it's about time someone does. We've been stuck in a monotonous routine for far too long. It's nice to have a change." She rolled her eyes.
    "Did I really come here before all of this?" Katerina asked quietly.
    "Yeah. It's crazy how much you've changed, none of us even recognized you." Felix said. "You came here three times but when you were about to leave, your mother would do her freaky voodoo thing on your brain and then you would pass out. I had to keep introducing myself to you like five times a day because you forgot so much."
   Freaky voodoo thing is a bit much to describe Fern VonHeusen's gift. She could just make a person forget about certain events that occurred or things that they've seen. But she would always sit with Katerina before she did it and the poor girl would always look scared out of her mind when her mother began erasing her memories. It was awful to watch.
     "You really had to reintroduce yourself to me that many times? Do you think I will ever remember?"
     "It's hard to say but I doubt it. Your mother's gift was really strong." She sighed.
    "It's alright Katerina, I don't think you want to remember all the times you mother threw you at me when she wanted to yell at Aro." I told her.
    "Was I annoying back then?" She questioned.
     "Yeah you were, you drove the receptionist crazy, so crazy that she was begging me to kill her." Felix teased as he ruffled her hair.
    "Do you guys mind if I clean myself up before I tell the others about my...situation? I'm sure I look like shit."
    "You look worse than shit Kit Kat." Demetri elbowed Felix for that one. "Sorry..."
     "At least you are being honest." She turned to me.
    "Will you walk me back to my room? I still get lost walking through here." I nodded.
     "Of course. You all can gather the newborns right?"
     "Sure thing brother." Jane sneered as she grabbed Demetri and Felix's arms and began storming in the opposite direction.
    "She really doesn't like me does she?" Katerina asked me.
    "I don't think it's you." She laughed.
     "It's obvious it's me Alec."
     "I don't know why she does not like you. She normally has a reason for disliking people."
    "Yeah I guess so, but I haven't even done anything wrong yet!"
    "Of course you have to understand that she isn't used to being anything but the center of attention. This is the second mission that she hasn't lead in a long time. That's half the reason why she has been so emotional lately."
    "Who was in charge of the first mission?" I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
     "You're looking at him. The first mission was to oversee all of you newborns to make sure you don't lose control."
    "Oh, that sucks. I mean, that's good for you but it sucks that she isn't handling it well."
    "I know. I'm the one who normally has to deal with her obsessive ranting about "all the missions she has to deal with" and all of that whining." She laughed when I started to mimic Jane.
   "She does not sound like that..."
    "You haven't heard her whine yet. That was an award winning impression."
   "Really?"
    "Yes it was. I should become an impressionist."
    "Don't quit your day job."
     "I wouldn't need to. I work at night." She laughed again. Her laugh was like a song, it was melodious and lighthearted, the kind of tune that would play in your head over and over again. I could listen to it all day.
"Snap out of it Alec, what is wrong with you?!" My mind screamed at me. This time I just told it to shut up again. We finally arrived at the door to her room. Her delicate hands twisted the knob gently. She walked into the room. About half way in she paused and looked at me.
     "You can come in you know, I don't bite that often." She laughed. "Get it, bite...cause we, you know bite people..." She trailed off. Her smile faded. "I shouldn't quit my day job either."
    I chuckled as I walked in the room. She quickly zoomed around the room grabbing what she needed before she went in the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She was out in an instant with more makeup on her face. I sighed.
"Why did you put more face paint on?" I questioned as we walked out of the room.
    "It's not face paint, it's makeup and its waterproof. And I don't know why I put it on, maybe because it makes me look pretty, I don't know."
    "I don't think layers of face paint is what makes you look pretty." She raised an eyebrow.
    "Then what does make me look pretty, oh wise and wonderful beauty expert?" I laughed at her petty sarcasm.
    "I never said I was an expert...There's just more to beauty than looks."
     "Finally, someone who gets it!" Andi shouted as she ran up to us. "You picked a good one Kat!" Katerina's eyes got a little bigger and she bit her lip nervously.
      Her eyes started to water. She was nervous about telling the newborns about what happened to her. Andi hit me on the chest before she pulled Katerina into her arms.
   "Geez, why did you have to make her cry asshole?"
    "I didn't, I'm just the escort." I told her outing my hands up and taking a step back. She rolled her eyes at me. Andi and Katerina have become close friends lately, even though they haven't been here that long. She makes sure that people leave Katerina alone so that she doesn't end up squishing them to death, which is something I appreciated. That's one job lifted off of my shoulders.
   "Hey..." Andi said to Katerina. "You have something you have to tell us all right?" She nodded. "Well, I know whatever it is must suck, but it doesn't change what anyone in that room will think of you." She paused for a moment. "Well maybe what Adeline..." Andi stopped and looked at me. "I'm not supposed to say anything around you so can you like, turn around and cover your ears."
    "And say la over and over." Katerina added, turning her head to look at me. Her makeup wasn't running this time but she still looked like she was crying. I guess water proof face paint really works.
   "We don't have time for this." I said as I grabbed both of them and dragged them away. We soon reached the newborn's lounge area. All talking ceased when we came forward.
"What the hell is going on?" Brynn asked as she stood up from her seat. "We haven't even been here that long, and you people already fucked up?!"
"We didn't fuck up..."
"Well from what Demetri and Felix told us, you did." George said, giving me a concerning look.
    "Yeah shit hit the fan, didn't it?" Fred added. I sighed. Thankfully Katerina spoke before I had to. This was not something I enjoyed repeating. I can only imagine how she feels.
   "It's not their fault. It's no ones really, other than my asshole father who's favorite pastime is sticking needles in his daughter and bullets in his wife's brain." She spoke bitterly.
     It was almost as if the whole world stopped turning and we were at a complete stand still. No one talked, no one moved. I don't think anyone even breathed.
     "Your father did those things?" Caleb asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. She nodded. "Did he do that to you?"
    "Yep. The bullet thing is true too. But since I'm half vampire-half fae, it's a big vampire problem because...well I don't really need to explain why experimenting on people is wrong do I?" Everyone muttered a chorus of no's and shook their heads.
    "So what are we supposed to do?" Adeline asked her in normal snotty manner. She gave them a sad smile and shook her head.
   "We have to stop him, because if we can't, I don't think anyone will be able to..." She wiped the tears from her eyes. Brynn grabbed her hand, giving her the encouragement she needed to continue.
     This was were everything got difficult. This was also the moment when life as we know it changed. After all, what's life without a few complications? Easy, that's what it is, easy. But of course, we can't have easy, can we?